


Bees? Bees.

by InsominiacArrest



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Friendship, Gen, bee AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-14
Updated: 2016-06-14
Packaged: 2018-07-15 02:08:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7201853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsominiacArrest/pseuds/InsominiacArrest
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>based on Lauren Zuke's bee keeper AU for Peridot and Lapis</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bees? Bees.

“Peridot, what are you going to do with all these bees?” Is the first thing Lapis says when Peridot starts a honeycomb box by their barn.

 

“I don’t know Lazuli…” Her large green eyes turned in her direction, “what can’t you do with bees?”   
  
Lapis didn’t know how to answer that question. She folded her arms across her chest and looked up into the sun. 

 

“I don’t like it.” She says simply and leans against the barn house, the thick buzz of little drones swim around her ears and she has to resist swatting at them.

 

“Make me a list of things you do like Lazuli.” She smiles back at her slyly, “and I bee-lieve we could get somewhere.” She beamed in delight at her own turn-a-phrase. Lapis was not amused.   
  
Lapis kicked a loose dirt clod on the ground, “It’s a short list.” She says bluntly and Peridot gives her a thumbs up. The list had one name on it at the moment.

 

“Let’s add bees to it!” She scurries up to her and tries to tug on her shoulder, “let me show you the magic of earth life forms.”   
  
Lapis resists at first but then lets herself be dragged across the lawn to what Peridot deemed the ‘bee box.’ 

 

“Boil it down for me.” Lapis leans down and observes the yellow, fat insects that played a little tune with their flapping wings and soared around like lost leaves in a windstorm.  Lapis eyes them closely, “the best thing about your bee friends.”   
  
Peridot jumps up and down, “they are everyone's friend Lapis.”   
  
“Oh my great diamond shattering authority.” Lapis curses and almost puts Peridot in a headlock.

 

Peridot tuts at her, “they sting people and fly around.” Lapis tilts her head, observing that Peridot was appealing to her.

Lapis looks closer at their little stingers and wide dark eyes that sucked up the light and colors, tiny wings that kept flapping like motors.

 

Lapis flopped down and observed the bees, Peridot blinks her down at her thoughtfully and Lapis stays put. She lets her be.

 

\------------

 

All workers, and any bee who did anything was female. Queens lived up to eight years, workers lived up to a few weeks or less. They can collect half their body weight in pollen in their hind legs. Bees distributed work through age. They flew, they fought, they died for their queen and Lapis didn’t understand.

 

“Don’t you want to be able to survive on your own?” She whispers to a little yellow bubbling one that landed on the grass in front of her.

 

“I think you mean, ‘don’t you want to beeee able to survive on your own?” Peridot interjected.   
  
“No I don’t!” Lapis shouted back, “shut up.” She grumbled and turned back to her black and yellow companion. 

 

The female drone landed on a flower and with it’s delicate legs gathered the thick yellow powder against it’s fuzz.

 

Lapis squinted her eyes and leaned forward, “is that efficient? Is the Queen your Steven?” Lapis narrowed her eyes further and adds gravely, “or your Diamond?”   
  
She hums and contemplates the bee she dubbed ‘fluff face.’ 

 

Peridot named all the bees and Lapis had no idea how she kept track or was just making it up.

 

“Garnet, Steven Steven the third, Pearl, yellow, worker the insignificant,” Peridot was counting the bees, “and Lapis!” 

 

Lapis turned her head, “what?”

 

“Oh, bee Lapis. Look at her, she’s angry and regal and lands on the water all the time.” Peridot explains and Lapis picks at her teeth.

 

“That looks like every other bee.”   
  
Peridot blinked at her, “wouldn’t they say that about us too?”   
  
Lapis raised her eyebrows and turns away, a little taken back by Peridot’s astuteness. She makes eye contact with fluff face.

 

“Are you..hungry?” She ventures, organic life forms were often hungry. The bee remains motionless on the flower before raising it’s fat little body into the air. Lapis swiftly turns on her back towards Peridot, “what do they eat? That yellow stuff?” She tries to ask as flatly as possible.

 

Peridot raises an eyebrow, “they turn into honey they feed the young.” Peridot explains, “I think. Pollen, sugary water, sweet stuff.”   
  
“Sugar water…” Lapis repeats and taps on her leg. 

 

She rolls and over and lies on her stomach, fluff face flies off and Lapis reaches her hand out towards her. 

 

\--------------

 

Lapis was up before the sun was, and inside a grocery store before anyone else. No one seems to bother her when she walks out with armfuls of ‘nectar.’ It was perfect, no one would ever know.

  
She was in and out and back to the small than average lack like a shadow. She sets up another smaller series of pools besides it and rubs her hands together.

 

“What are you doing?” A suspicious voice interrupts her and she jumps.

 

“Oh,” Lapis turns her head creakily. “Uh,” she doesn’t have a proper explanation.

 

“Are you,” Peridot’s face lights up, “feeding my bees?”   
  
Lapis’s mouth hangs open, “they, um, it will be easier for them. If they don’t have to travel as far.” She tries to sound as reasonable as possible. 

 

Peridot gives a breathy sigh, like gust of warm air rather than puff of exasperation. She sits down next to Lapis and pats the space besides her.

 

“The sun is rising,” she comments leisurely, wrapping her short arms around her legs.

 

Lapis nods her head slowly and finishes tea-spooning in nectar to the water.

 

She turns around and Peridot is still beside her, “yeah..It’s not terrible.”   
  
Peridot and Lapis sit in a silence like candles lighting up, the thick sunlight grasps the horizon and the bees wake up like emerging dots of little stars that come out at night.

 

Lapis watches them land on the water and earth comes alive.

 

They wait until the day grows old and Lapis is almost in a trance from the steady noise and heavy heat that bakes the earth.

  
“Okay, now!” Peridot gets up and stretches, her gem glows in the yellow light, “we have bees to look after.”

**Author's Note:**

> may write another version of this in future?


End file.
